The 10 Startups in Sweden to Watch

The Swedish startup world is booming, with an estimated 30,000 operating in Stockholm alone. We’ve all heard of Spotify, Minecraft, and Skype, but there are plenty more working to reach unicorn status. Here’s your guide to the ones to watch.

Fishbrain

By marrying social with utility, Fishbrain has become the go-to app for sports fishermen and women and is one of the fastest growing startups in Sweden. By allowing users to share information about what’s biting when, the app also facilitates strong social networks, and is also helping experts and researchers track fish species.

Fishbrain: Bringing fishermen and women from around the world together |Photo courtesy of Fishbrain

Peppy Pals

Can you teach empathy? Peppy Pals thinks you can, and they believe you need to start early. Peppy Pals is a children’s app that guides children through making the most empathetic choices for various characters facing dilemmas about what is the right thing to do. The app is not language based—it’s all about emotional intelligence, so its appeal is universal.

Mentimeter

Mentimeter is changing how we interact at events, whether that’s a big work conference or a wedding. The mobile application enables real-time polling, where a speaker can create questions and the audience can answer immediately via their mobile phone, with the input visualized in real time.

Mentimeter: changing how we interact at events |Photo courtesy of Pentameter

Acast

Acast is revolutionizing the world of podcasting by making it easy to not just get your podcast out to the masses but also to monetize. Big names like the Guardian and HuffPo are hosted on Acast, alongside that guy broadcasting from his kitchen table about birdcalls. If you’re a podcast fan check this one out.

Acast: Revolutionising podcasting |Photo courtesy of Acasst

Tictail

If fashion, art, and interior decorating are your things, Tictail might be for you. It makes it easy to discover emerging brands from more than 140 countries, allowing shoppers to explore and connect with a global community of brands. You’ll also be the first in line to have the latest, a bragging right close to any fashionista’s heart.

Tictail: finding you emerging brands |Photo courtesy of Tictail

Truecaller

Truecaller’s premise is simple: it allows you to identify unknown callers and block unwanted calls. This is a gift to those who field endless telemarketing calls or who want to make sure particular people can’t make contact. It’s also one of the fastest growing startups in Sweden.

Truecaller: Block unwanted calls |Photo courtesy of Truecaller

Lifesum

Lifesum’s motto is “Healthy living, simplified.” The Stockholm-based startup aims to make it easy for people to form healthy habits, which they believe will lead to a happier life. The app uses applied psychology and is easy to personalize, making getting healthy just that much easier.

Lifesum: Healthy means happy |Photo courtesy of Lifesum

Storytel

With thousands of titles in both Swedish and English, Storytel is the audiobook breakout of the year. What makes them stand out is that they like to secure rights to not just bestsellers and prize-winners, but also classic books that have been favorites for generations. They also use top actors to voice the books, making the experience even more pleasurable.

Storytel: Bringing best sellers and classics to your ears |Photo courtesy of Storytel

MoveByBike

MoveByBike is about as green as it gets when it comes to moving house. The company will transport up to 300kg by bike, making moving more environmentally friendly, cheap, and smart. Perfect for urbanites, MoveByBike is now operating in Sweden’s six largest cities.

Move your stuff the ecological way |Photo courtesy of MoveByBike

Magine

Finally, you can ditch cable TV. Magine is a cloud-based TV operator offering both pre-recorded TV and live events. This is how you watch TV on the go or at home, without having to deal with remote controls, annoying cable guys, or clunky boxes, with offerings from around the globe.